The field of the disclosure relates generally to gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to a method and system for thermally coupling flow assemblies.
As gas turbine engines become more efficient and powerful, controlling temperatures of various components of the engine becomes more critical yet more difficult. In engine systems, a fuel manifold is a critical component, as it is responsible for the delivery of fuel to a core engine for combustion. However, in at least some known engine systems, the fuel manifold is positioned adjacent the core engine, and as such as exposed to heat transfer from the core engine through radiation and convection. Such heat transfer causes fuel conduits in the fuel manifold, as well as the fuel itself, to increase in temperature, which results in fuel coke accumulation in the fuel manifold and/or in a fuel nozzle. This accumulation in turn leads to reduced engine combustion efficiency and increased fluid-coupled dynamics issues, as well as shorter engine service intervals.